Wendy J. Murphy: Two on 'The View' have no clue

Monday

If the Joy Behars and Whoopi Goldbergs of the world decide it’s time to shame protesters into silence, watch out as rage and violence emerge as the only alternatives to peaceful protest.

Bill O’Reilly recently told the ladies of “The View” that a mosque should not be built near ground zero because “Muslims” killed Americans on 9/11.

The first part was an opinion – like it or not – that happens to be shared by 70 percent of Americans. The second part – about “Muslims” being responsible for 9/11 – is a statement of fact that happens to be correct.

Note that Bill did not say all Muslims are killers or all killers are Muslim. He just declared what the facts show: The people responsible for 9/11 were Muslim.

As logical reasoning goes, there should have been nothing to complain about. But if you wanted to create an issue where there wasn’t one, you would have jumped on Bill O’Reilly to bemoan the fact that he didn’t say he wasn’t talking about ALL Muslims.

And that’s exactly what Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg (who said it wasn’t “real rape” when Roman Polanski drugged and sodomized a child – so consider the weakness in almost any moral judgment she makes) did when they hoisted themselves up in a huff and stormed off the set in what looked to be a mix of a fourth-grade girl fight and a contrived snit.

When they finally came back, after Barbara Walters shamed them for the performance, Bill felt compelled to clarify that he meant “Muslim terrorists,” not ALL Muslims. (Good thing he pointed that out, because I thought he was referring to the Muslim mom I see at my kids’ school every day.)

When people engage in schtick to make a point – they undermine their goal. Like when OJ’s lawyers made a comedy of race issues in his murder trial even though racism wasn’t remotely relevant. Those who called them on it because it was disrespectful to the cause of justice were labeled “racist” – which made it harder for fair-minded people to speak openly about the truth. In turn, those who said OJ was victimized by racism when he was charged with double homicide gained the dominant voice in society, not because it was the most rational opinion, but because it was the most politically acceptable point of view.

Here’s what happened next.

The public became more racist. Seriously.

When people are told they cannot objectively dislike a man or his legal strategies because he’s black, they necessarily begin to resent blackness itself. Not because they’re racist but because race becomes a supercharged reason to worry about what black people think; a factor that inhibits one’s ability to simply relate to others as human beings.

A new study supports this idea. Scientists recently found that people who fear appearing racist when interacting with blacks are perceived by blacks as more racist than those who engage in a more natural style.

There’s no surer way to build the kind of resentment that leads to violence and hatred toward a particular group in society than telling people they are forbidden to feel a certain way – or think a certain thought – about someone who happens to be a member of that group.

Progress in the ability to transcend differences depends on the capacity of all people to speak openly without fear of reprisal – or talk show snits – especially on issues of such profound importance as American-Muslim relations in the aftermath of 9/11.

That people have been marching in the streets to express themselves in opposition to the mosque near ground zero is a good thing – not because of how they feel but because of the way they have chosen to express their feelings.

If the Joy Behars and Whoopi Goldbergs of the world decide it’s time to shame protesters into silence, watch out as rage and violence emerge as the only alternatives to peaceful protest.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if people who claim a commitment to peace, end up causing the kind of violence that would make Bill O’Reilly’s comment about Muslims sound like a love song by comparison.

Wendy Murphy is a leading victims rights advocate and nationally recognized television legal analyst. She is an adjunct professor at New England Law in Boston. She can be reached at wmurphy@nesl.edu. Read more of her columns at The Daily Beast.

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